Whereas the ministry of Foreign and European Affairs deals with international cultural relations in relation with embassies’ cultural promotion projects, the competence for the definition and implementation of international cultural policy lies with the ministry of Culture. This encompasses bilateral as well as crossborder and multilateral cultural affairs. State and other publicly funded cultural institutes manage their international networks according to their own priorities.
Local authorities may be engaged in cultural activities with an international dimension on an autonomous basis, but it is rather seldom the case and depends on what is defined as such (e.g. town twinning activities might often be considered as cultural project). Regional or local cultural institutions, on the other hand, may often be in contact with foreign structures, though not so much for coproduction reasons than for distribution purposes.
Luxembourg does not have cultural institutes abroad, even though a handful of embassies are qualified as so-called “Maison du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg”, meaning that an extra amount of budget is made available for promotional activities of all kinds. Nevertheless, most of the time, these Houses do not equal a cultural venue and play no fixed role in terms of cultural diplomacy.
An export bureau for music having been created in 2011, it has since been integrated into an arts council type structure that has been established in 2020, called Kultur|lx. This structure’s missions are three-fold: stimulating the career development of Luxembourgish creatives, supporting and encouraging the dissemination of artistic creation, boosting the impact and promotion of artistic creations in and outside of Luxembourg. It focusses on professional artists and their career development inside the country and abroad.
Another important player in international cultural relations in the larger sense is the Film Fund Luxembourg. Established in 1990, the Fund is an official body supervised by both the minister responsible for the audiovisual sector and the minister responsible for culture, its main mission is to promote and foster an environment in which the country’s film production industry can develop and flourish, including internationally. Accordingly, coproductions represent nowadays a major part of Luxembourg’s film production, thanks notably to coproduction treaties that have been signed with a certain number of countries.
Other treaties and instruments, such as bilateral cultural agreements that have been signed with over 30 countries, are generally ill recognised and thus underused. Nevertheless, works are currently underway to define a general and coherent strategy for international cultural relations that would also allow valorising policies and instruments and making better use of them.
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